One night, when they were sailing, Halldor said to the man at the helm, ‘Change course.’
The king spoke to the helmsman: ‘Go right ahead,’ he said.
Halldor spoke a second time: ‘Change course.’
The king said the same thing again.
Halldor said, ‘You’re heading straight for the skerry.’
And they landed on it. The bottom of the ship then gave way, and they had to be carried ashore in other ships. A tent was then pitched on land and the ship repaired.
Bard was woken up by Halldor tying up his leather sleeping sack. Bard asked him what he was planning.
Halldor said he intended to join a cargo vessel which was lying a short distance away from them – ‘It may well be that from now on the dust-clouds from our horses will head in separate directions, but things have been tested to the limit. I don’t want the king to ruin any more of his ships, or other valuables, just for the sake of ridiculing me so that I have less respect than before.’
‘Wait a little,’ said Bard, ‘I want to meet the king again.’
When he arrived, the king said, ‘You are up early, Bard.’
‘There is need for it, my lord. Halldor is preparing to leave, and feels that you have treated him in an unfriendly fashion. It is a little difficult taking care of you two. He now means to leave, and join up with a ship, and go off to Iceland in anger. Such a parting will be rather undeserved. I don’t think that you will find another man as trustworthy as he is.’
The king said that they would make things up, and that he would not take any offence at this.
Bard met Halldor and told him of the king’s friendly words.
Halldor answered, ‘Why should I serve him any longer? I don’t even get paid honestly.’
Bard said, ‘Don’t mention that. You can well accept what landholders’ sons get. You didn’t show much consideration last time when you threw the silver into the straw and ruined everything. And you must know that the king took that as a personal insult.’
Halldor answered, ‘I do not know that my service has ever been as great a swindle as the king’s payment was.’
‘That’s true,’ said Bard. ‘Wait a bit. I want to see the king again.’
And that is what he did.
When Bard met the king, he said, ‘Give Halldor his payment in pure silver. He is worth it.’
The king answered, ‘Don’t you think it a little impudent to demand that Halldor should have a different payment than that which landholders’ sons have received, especially after the disrespect he showed the last payment?’
Bard answered, ‘On the other hand, my lord, there is greater importance in his loyalty and in the good friendship that existed between the two of you for a long time, and, then, in addition to that, there is your magnanimity. You know Halldor’s temperament and stubbornness, and it will be to your credit to do him honour.’
The king answered, ‘Give him the silver.’
This was done.
Bard came to Halldor and gave him twelve ounces of refined silver and said, ‘Can’t you see that whatever you nag the king about you get? He wants you to have from him what you say you need.’
Halldor said, ‘Nonetheless, I won’t go on the king’s ship again. If he wants my company any longer, then I want a ship of my own to command.’
Bard answered, ‘It is not fitting that landholders should give up their ships for you. You are being too demanding.’
Halldor said that he would not go otherwise.
Bard told the king what had been demanded on Halldor’s part – ‘And if the oarsmen of the ship are as trustworthy as the skipper, then that is as it should be.’
The king said, ‘Even though this might be thought somewhat forward, something will be done about it.’
Svein of Lyrgja, a landholder, commanded a ship. The king had him called to a meeting.
‘It’s like this,’ said the king. ‘As you know, you come from a great family. For that reason, I want you to be on my ship, but that means I will need another man to take command of your ship. You are a clever man, and I especially want you to give me advice.’
He said, ‘You have more often gone to other men for advice before now, and I have little skill at that. Who is meant to have the ship?’
‘Halldor Snorrason will have it,’ said the king.
Svein said, ‘I didn’t expect you to choose an Icelander for this, and that you would remove me from the command of a ship.’
The king said, ‘His family in Iceland is no worse than yours here in Norway. It is not so long ago that those now living in Iceland were Norwegian.’
It went as the king wished. Halldor took over the ship, and they then went east to Oslo and held feasts there.
4 It is told that one day when the king and his men were sitting and drinking in the king’s chamber, Halldor was there too, and his men who were supposed to be looking after the ship arrived. All of them were wet, and they said that Svein and his men had taken the ship and thrown them overboard. Halldor stood up and went before the king and asked whether he was supposed to own the ship, and whether the king’s word would be kept. The king answered and stated that of course he was supposed to own it, then told the king’s men that they should take six ships with a triple crew on each and go with Halldor.
They now went after Svein, and had him chased to land, and when Svein ran ashore, Halldor took the ship and went back to the king.
When the feasts were over, the king went north up the coast, and then to Trondheim towards the end of the summer.
Svein of Lyrgja sent the king word that he wanted to place the whole matter in the king’s hands, and that the king should settle things between Svein and Halldor as he wished, but that he would prefer to buy the ship if the king was agreeable to that. When the king saw that Svein had placed the whole matter under his judgement, he wanted to act in such a way that both parties would be satisfied. He told Halldor to sell him the ship, but wanted him to get a respectable price for it. Svein should then have the ship. After this, the king came to a deal with Halldor, and bought the ship. He paid Halldor everything except for half a mark of gold, which was left over. Halldor made few demands for it, and it was not paid, and that is how it went that winter.
When the spring was approaching, Halldor told the king that he wanted to go to Iceland in the summer, and stated that it would suit him if he were now paid what remained of the money for the ship. But the king was evasive about the payment, and did not think much of Halldor’s demand, but did not ban him from going home.
During the spring, Halldor prepared his ship on the river Nid, and then moved it up to Brattaeyri. And when they were all prepared and there was a fair wind, Halldor went into the town with several men late in the evening. He had his weapons with him. They went to where the king and queen were sleeping. Halldor’s travelling companions waited outside beneath the overhang of the upper floor while he walked in with his weapons. He made some noise and commotion, and this woke the king and the queen up. The king asked who was breaking in on them in the night.
‘Halldor is here, and ready to sail with a fair wind, and it would be advisable for you to pay me the money now.’
‘That cannot be done so quickly,’ said the king. ‘We will pay you the money tomorrow.’
‘I want it right now,’ said Halldor, ‘and I’m not leaving until my errand has been completed. I know your temperament, and, however you may act: at this moment, I’m well aware what you must be thinking about my visit and my demands for money. I’ll have little belief in what you say from now on; indeed it’s unlikely that we’ll be meeting each other so very often. I have the advantage, and mean to make use of it. I see that the queen has a ring on her arm that is the perfect equivalent. Let me have that.’
The king answered, ‘We’ll have to go and fetch some scales and weigh the ring then.’
‘No need,’ said Halldor. ‘I’ll take it for my debt. You’re not going to do any cheating this time.
Hand it over immediately.’
The queen spoke: ‘Can’t you see,’ she said, ‘that he is standing over you., ready to kill you?’
Then she removed the ring and gave it to Halldor.
He took it, thanked them both for the payment and wished them a good life, ‘and we will now part.’
He then went out and spoke to his travelling companions, and told them to run to the ship as fast as possible, ‘because I’ve got little desire to hang about much longer in this town’.
They did so, and boarded the ship, and immediately some of them hoisted up the sail, while others got the rowing-boat ready, and others pulled up the anchor. Everyone did what they could. As they were sailing out, there was no lack of horn-blowing in the town. The last thing they saw was that three longships were afloat, and were setting off after them. They pulled ahead, though, and reached the sea. There they got separated, and Halldor made a good start for Iceland. The king’s men turned back when they saw that Halldor was pulling ahead and had reached the open sea.
5 Halldor Snorrason was a large, handsome man, the strongest and most courageous of men in battle. King Harald bore witness to the fact that of all the men who had been with him, Halldor was the one who was least affected by shocks; whether faced with mortal danger or joyful news, he was never more or less happy than usual. He never ate food or drank or slept more or less than he was accustomed to, whether the times were good or bad. Halldor was a man of few words. He spoke abruptly and frankly, was sharp-tempered and rough, and highly competitive in all things with anyone he had dealings with. This caused trouble with King Harald when he had enough other men to serve him. That is why they got on so badly together after Harald became King of Norway.
When Halldor reached Iceland, he set up a farm at Hjardarholt. A few summers later, King Harald sent a message to Halldor Snorrason saying he should enter his service again, and that his respect had never been as great as it would be if he agreed to go; and that he would place him higher than any other man of low birth if he accepted this invitation.
When the message reached him, Halldor replied with these words: ‘I will never go to meet King Harald from this time forth. Each of us now can keep what he has got. I am aware of his character. I know perfectly well that he would carry out his promise to place no man in Norway higher than me if I went to meet him, because he would place me on the highest of gallows if he had any say in the matter.’
And when King Harald was growing older, it is said that he sent Halldor word that he should send him some fox-skins. The king wanted to have them made into a blanket to go over his bed, because he felt he needed more warmth.
When this message of the king’s reached Halldor, it is said that at first he uttered the following words: ‘The early rooster is getting old,’ he said, but he sent him the skins.
They never met again after they parted in Trondheim, even though that time things had been a little abrupt. He lived in Hjardarholt until the end of his life, and became an old man.
Translated by TERRY GUNNELL
THE TALE OF SARCASTIC HALLI
Sneglu-Halla pdttur*
I The beginning of this story is when King Harald Sigurdarson was ruling over Norway. That was in the period after the death of his kinsman, King Magnus. It is said that King Harald was a very wise and very shrewd man. Almost everything that he counselled turned out well. He was a good poet and always mocked whomever he pleased. And when he was in a good mood, he was extremely patient even if abusive obscenities were directed at him. At this time, he was married to Thora Thorbergsdottir. Thorberg was Ami’s son. Harald took great pleasure in poetry and always had people about him who knew how to compose poems.
There was a man named Thjodolf. He was an Icelander whose family came from Svarfadardal. He was a well-mannered man and a great poet He was on very warm terms with King Harald. The king called him his chief poet and honoured him above all his other poets. Thjodolf was of humble origins, well brought up and envious of newcomers.
King Harald loved Icelanders very much. He gave Iceland many valuable goods including the good bell for Thingvellir. And when the great famine came to Iceland – and such another has not come – he sent four knorrs loaded with flour, one to each quarter, and he had a great many poor people transported from Iceland.
2 There was a man named Bard who was one of King Harald’s followers. He sailed out to Iceland, landed at Gasir and took lodgings there for the winter.
A man named Halli, nicknamed Sarcastic Halli, took passage to Norway with Bard. Halli was a good poet and a very impudent person. He was a tall man, long-necked, with narrow shoulders and long arms, and was rather ill-proportioned. His family was from Fljot.
They sailed as soon as they were ready and had a long passage. That autumn they reached Norway north of Trondheim at the islands called Hitra, and then sailed in towards Agdenes and lay up there that night. And the next morning they sailed into the fjord with a light breeze. And when they reached Reine, they saw three longships rowing out down the fjord. The third was a dragon-ship. And as the ships were rowing past the trading vessel, a man dressed in scarlet and with a golden band around his forehead came out on the poop deck of the dragon-ship; he was tall and of noble bearing.
This man spoke: ‘Who commands your ship, and where did you stay this winter, and where did you first make land, and where did you lie up last night?’
The merchants were nearly struck dumb when so much was asked all at once, but then Halli answered, ‘We were in Iceland for the winter, and sailed from Gasir, and made land at Hitra, last night we lay up at Agdenes (Agdi’s Ness), and our skipper is called Bard.’
This man, who in fact was King Harald Sigurdarson, then asked, ‘Didn’t Agdi fuck you?’
‘Not yet,’ said Halli.
The king grinned and spoke: ‘Is there some agreement that he will do you this service sometime later?’
‘No,’ said Halli, ‘and one particular consideration was crucial to our suffering no disgrace at his hands.’
‘What was that?’ asked the king.
Halli knew perfectly well whom he was talking to – ‘It was this, my lord,’ he said, ‘if you’re so curious to know this: in this matter Agdi was waiting for nobler men than ourselves, and he expected your arrival there tonight, and he will pay you this debt fully.’
‘You are being extremely impudent,’ said the king.
What more they said at that time is not known. The merchants sailed on in to Kaupang, unloaded their cargo and rented a house in the town.
A few days later the king returned to the town; he had gone out to the islands on a pleasure trip. Halli asked Bard to take him to the king and said he wanted to request winter quarters, but Bard invited Halli to stay with him. Halli thanked him but said that he wanted to be with the king if that option were open.
3 One day Bard went to meet the king and Halli went with him. Bard greeted the king. The king acknowledged his greeting warmly and made many enquiries about Iceland and also asked if Bard had brought any Icelanders to Norway.
Bard said he had brought one Icelander – ‘and his name is Halli and he is here now, my lord, and wishes to ask to stay for the winter with you’.
Then Halli went before the king and greeted him.
The king received him warmly and asked if he had been the one who answered him in the fjord ‘when we met you and your companions’.
‘I’m the very man,’ said Halli.
The king said that he would not withhold food from Halli and asked him to stay at one of his estates. Halli said that he wanted to be at court or look for a place elsewhere.
The king said that it always turned out – ‘that I get blamed if our friendship with you doesn’t go well, even though that seems hardly likely to me this time. You Icelanders are stubborn and unsociable. Now stay if you wish, but you are responsible for yourself whatever happens.’
Halli said that it would be so and thanked the king. And then he was with the king’s followers an
d everyone liked him. An old and agreeable follower named Sigurd was Halli’s bench-companion.
King Harald’s custom was to eat one meal a day. The food was served first to him, as would be expected, and he was always very well satisfied by the time the food was served to the others. But when he was satisfied, he rapped on the table with the handle of his knife, and then the tables were to be cleared at once. Many were still hungry.
It happened on one occasion that the king was walking in the street attended by his followers, and many of them were not nearly satisfied. And then they heard a noisy quarrel at an inn. It was a tanner and a blacksmith, and they were almost attacking one another. The king stopped and watched for a while.
Then he said, ‘Let’s go. I don’t want to get involved in this, but, Thjodolf, compose a verse about them.’
‘My lord,’ said Thjodolf, ‘that’s hardly suitable considering that I am called your chief poet.’
The king answered, ‘It’s more difficult than you think. You are to make them into altogether different people than they really are. Make one of them into Sigurd Fafnisbani (Killer of the Serpent Fafnir) and the other into Fafnir, but nevertheless identify each one’s trade.’
Then Thjodolf spoke a verse:
1. Sigurd of the sledge-hammer goaded Sigurd (legendary hero) of the hammer: the blacksmith;
the snake of the scary skin-scraper, snake of the skin-scraper: the tanner
but the scrape-dragon of skins scrape-dragon of skins: the tanner
slithered away from the moor of socks.
moor of socks: floor
Folk feared the serpent, fitted out
with footwear, before the long-nosed king
of tongs set about him, king of tongs: the blacksmith
the serpent of ox-skin. serpent of ox-skin: the tanner
The Sagas of the Icelanders Page 92